Notes / Commercial Description:
Bitch Creek perfectly balances big malt sweetness and robust hop flavor for a full bodied, satisfying mahogany ale. Like the stream for which it is named, our Bitch Creek ESB is full of character... not for the timid.

Reviews by xymyl:

Lots of green hop aroma up front along with some spicy notes, then some doughy and caramel notes, a burnt note comes out that seems

Tastes good and a bit more dark malt shows up, nothing too complex is going on but it is nice. Not as balanced as you would expect an ESB to come across. I think it would be better with much less aroma and flavor hops, or better yet, more sweetness and more alcohol.

Other notes: Nothing wrong with it really, I am having it again as I write this review, and I shall have it again. It has a body that is toward the medium side of things.

More User Reviews:

I've been striving lately to try as many new beers as I can and I have seen this one one the shelves many times so I figured I would give it a go. I love the name Bitch Creek, very intriguing. I poured from a bottle brewed on 2/11/15 into a claret glass.

Look: Pours a very dark brown that reveals itself to be a brilliant clear mahogany with a unique off white head that has a touch of beige to it. The lacing was thick and swirling.

Smell: A touch of brown sugar and roasted malts but with a distinct fruity flavor from the yeast. Sweet as well and the alcohol is subtly present.

Taste: The taste is quite similar to the smell and is roasty malt, fruity yeast, a touch of sweetness and a flourish of alcohol. I also get cavendish, beechwood, and licorice.

Feel: Quite full and medium bodied yet with a nice amount of carbonation. Definitely smooth and pleasantly coating.

Overall: This is a good one that drank quite cleanly and paired well with my hot dog and baked beans. Definitely a good option for a barbecue and certainly high quality. I would recommend this beer, especially if you are not in the mood for hops.

Lucent bloody brown, at least as dark as the bottle it came in and much darker than any ESB in existence. The dark tan head displays a compact creaminess, furious surface pits and cheese cloth-like lace in the form of thin rings up top and thicker rings down near the receding surface of the beer.

Moderately hoppy nose whose intensity, unfortunately, levels off after the initial nasal rush, causing it to never really hit its stride. Something seems to be blunting it... must be that infernal malt. There's very little maltiness in the aroma though, must be some of that stealth malt that I've been hearing so much about. Fruity, earthy English-style hops (Fuggles?) are dominant with grapefruit peel playing a subservient role.

Bitter Creek is a big beer lover's ESB; Grand Teton most certainly did not skimp on ingredients. It isn't quite a bitch slap of an experience, but is more intense than your garden variety ESB. Plenty o' malt gives it a sweet caramel flavor that is beaten into submission by a few well-timed, solid, bitter hoppy thumps akin to candied white grapefruit coated with caramelized sugar and pine sap. The medium-firm, resinous body/mouthfeel leaves a pleasant bitter scum on the tongue.

I've been impressed by Grand Teton. Sweetgrass IPA was a good one and I still have Teton Ale (APA) to sample. If things hold true to form, it'll be a keeper as well. Many thanks to Ragsdale for a trio (I'm hoping) of wonderful Idaho beers.

An ESB brewed with American malt and hops is another way of saying this is a hoppy American Brown Ale. Deep reddish-brown color, darker than anticipated. Thick latte tan head with good retention and lacing that sticks on the glass. There's rich toasted biscuit and caramel flavors from the malt along with a mildly pungent herbal and citric rind hop in the aroma. Smooth, slick and semi-creamy medium body. Toasted bread, dried hay, hint of unsweetened chocolate and burnt caramel coming from the malt. Sturdy hop character with a slightly heavy hand of bitterness to begin with, then the flavor moves more toward a light citric rind and herbal tone. Fruity, with suggestions of ripe plum and raisins. Finishes bittersweet as the malt stays around and the hops just don't want to let go.

Bitch Creek ends up being a quite tasty, old-school microbrew style, which we really dig. If you are looking for a full-flavored, bigger-bodied session beer, here it is.

Picked this up randomly in Colorad several months back. Again one of those I've had for a bit and want to drink before it gets too old...

Dark amber caramel color, hazy. Small off white head, quickly reduced to a thin layer with larger bubbles clumped around the edge.

Lots of sweetness when I inhale this, more than I would expect. Hops are somewhat floral over a bed of sweet roll type malts. Alcohol is evident as well. This seems to be quite kicked up over typical ESB's.

Flavor seems to be based on sweet biscuit and medium crystal malts. Forms a pretty nice backbone for this one. Hops are somewhat muted but still have that herbal, earthiness to them and even some pine, but again not as strong as I usually expect. Finishes with a bit of the typical ESB soapiness I'm used to. Overall this one is okay in the flavor department.

Mouthfeel is medium or so, maybe a little thinner than others of the style. Carbonation levels are good though adding just a bit of crispness to finish it off.

Good drinkability really. Nothing turns me off about this beer. Its pretty straightforward and easy to put down.

12 oz bottle. Pours a dark tea brown with a creamy light tan head that retains well and leaves some lacing.

The aroma is toasty caramel and grapefruity citrus hops. It kind of reminds me of some of the hoppy American barleywines.

The flavor is sweet toasty caramel/toffee with some resiny grapefruity hops leading to a decent bitter aftertaste. It mellows some as it warms. The mouthfeel is medium and slightly watery with some sharp carbonation.

Overall, this was a very nice surprise! I usually don't like ESBs, but this is a lot fruitier with the west coast hops. It's more like a weak barleywine or Arrogant Bastard.

Smell: Complex at first with chocolate, caramel, citrus and spicy English hops, but then fades to a simple dry malt aroma.

Taste: Mostly dried-out chocolate and caramel malt balanced by a fairly aggressive dose of sharp floral English hops and maybe a touch of citrus and pine.

Feel: Moderate carbonation, medium body, very dry finish.

Drinkability: Not a true ESB as it is called an Extra Special Brown. It really is a cross between an English Brown Ale and some kind of bitter American beer - I would call it an American Brown Ale. Quite good, but the mixture is just slightly off-putting.

Dark brown color and yet still somewhat penetrable to light. A quarter inch of tightly knit beige head sits on top. Brussels lacing. I smell dark malt and just a faint whiff of caramel. The flavor is dark malt, toffee,and caramel. The mouth is slightly creamy and smooth.

pours a dark dark opaque brown with quite a bit of yeast floating around. a thick light tan colored head with pretty good retention. tons of sticky lace caovering every possible spot.

aroma is that of chocolate and caramel malts. citrusy sprucey woody hops as well as a little pungent pine in the background. some what perfumey. smells nice.

the taste is very nice. tastes like it was brewed to be a really good brown ale with an english style esb in mind. chocolate, toffee, and caramel malts. perfumey, sprucy ,piney hops. decent amount of bitterness. a touch of bready yeastiness in there.

medium bodied, maybe feels a touch heavy at times. the hops are felt a little on the palate after drinking.

drinks pretty good, i might be done after 4 or so of these. a decent session beer, but it might lay a little heavy in the stomach after awhile. a great tasteing beer non the less and if it wasnt so hard to get a hold of for me, i might drink it more. not really distributed in my region(well not that i know of).

It makes a greater appearance on the taste buds, a little bit of alcohol too, which seems odd for the style, and not as dry and bitter as I would like to see. This is one of the least like esb's I've had, is like an amber, brown, pale & bitter combined. Which is at least unique.

Mouthfeel, I liked the beer more as I got used to it, settled down, picked up more bitter feel, but still a little heavier than I like my esb. Decent price, just kind of one of those middle of the road beers.